Murder at Yuletide

Emmanuel Babs, said to be an easygoing student, was shot by gunmen while returning from evangelism. TAIWO ISOLA (200-Level Human Anatomy, University of Maiduguri) reports.

The late Emmanuel Oluwajuwon Babs left his hostel, G-Block, at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) penultimate Friday for a music ministration at Chapel of Blessing, a students’ church at the university’s Teaching Hospital.

As he stepped out of his hostel, the late Emmanuel, a 400-Level Agricultural Engineering student, told his roommates he would be back on Sunday. As he was returning from the gospel concert, he was shot dead along with an unidentified young man on a commercial tricycle popularly called Keke NAPEP. The incident happened a few days to Christmas.

The tricycle was attacked by masked gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members at Bolori Layout, Maiduguri. An eye-witness told CAMPUSLIFE that the late Emmanuel and another passenger, both of whom sat behind the driver, were heading towards Central Bank Junction in Bolori when a saloon car overtook the tricycle and blocked its way.

“Two men came out and instantly opened fire on the passengers in the Keke NAPEP, leaving only the driver. They took a bag belonging to one of the victims and left the scene immediately. Later, soldiers arrived on the scene and took the bodies to a specialist hospital’s morgue,” the witness said.

It was learnt that members of the Joint Task Force (JTF) did not make efforts to reach the families of the victims after they took the bodies to the morgue.

CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the late Emmanuel had initially told his parents, who are based in Maiduguri, that he would be home briefly before returning to school because of exam. But he was informed his mother had travelled with his siblings to their home state for Christmas, leaving his father, with whom he planned to travel to Port Harcourt to begin his mandatory Industrial Training (IT).

A close family friend told our correspondent that when the father did not see his son, he called his phone but it was switched off.

“When the father called the late Emmanuel’s colleagues to know his whereabouts, he was shocked when he was informed that the boy had not returned to the campus,” the source said.

The family immediately declared Emmanuel missing and a search began on Sunday night, CAMPUSLIFE gathered. After three days of searching, one of the late student’s friends found his body in the morgue of the specialist hospital.

“Emmanuel’s daddy broke down in tears as he saw the cold body of his son,” the family friend added.

Tears flowed freely as the remains of the late Emmanuel were committed to earth in Maiduguri last week Thursday. For his classmates, who trooped to the funeral, Emmanuel’s death was shocking.

“Just like that?” the deceased colleagues said in low tone as his remains were being lowered into the grave.

One of them, who spoke with our correspondent, recalled his last moments with the deceased.

“I saw Emmanuel in class last week and he asked me how I was preparing for the exams. I replied and we talked about a lot of things before we departed.”

In an emotional voice, a female student lamented: “When will the shedding of innocent people’s blood end in Maiduguri?”

Mr Blessing Olu-Babs, Emmanuel’s father, described his late son as a nice boy. He recounted his last moment with him. “My son told me he was having a test on Wednesday. So, I waited for him so that we can both travel to our home state, Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State, to join his mother and other siblings who had travelled earlier. I waited for him but I didn’t know fate had another plan for him,” he said.

He added: “Today, we are burying him. I have taken solace in the fact that he belonged to God and his Creator has called him back. But I will miss him because he was a very nice boy, who could not hurt a fly. He was cool-headed and very disciplined and religious.”

Suleiman Abubakar, a Nursing student and Emmanuel’s childhood friend, said he learnt of Emmanuel’s death on Facebook.

In an emotion-laden voice, he said: “We have been friends since we were toddlers till the day he was killed. We became brothers because we grew up in the same place, environment and went to the same secondary school and even university. I was shocked when one of our mutual friends on Facebook tagged me with his picture and wrote ‘RIP’. I became speechless because Emmanuel was very friendly and deeply religious. That was why it came as surprise to all of us when we learnt he was shot because we all knew him to be easygoing. If he had been the unruly type, we would have said maybe he was killed because of bad company but not so for Emmanuel. I am a northern Muslim and he was a Christian from the South, yet our families never quarreled for one day. Emmanuel lived a meaningful life. It is sad we lost him.”